


One Thing Right

by ohjustpeachy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mob, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-19 16:28:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20660228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohjustpeachy/pseuds/ohjustpeachy
Summary: Steve never meant for Tony to find out. Then again, he never really meant to get so far in himself.Then Tony got kidnapped, and it all went to shit.





	One Thing Right

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Stony hurt/comfort bingo square kidnapping, and a prompt asking for a mob au where Steve is tough in the streets, sweet in the sheets. (Those are my words not theirs, but you get it).
> 
> The title is from the Kane Brown/Marshmello song 'One Thing Right'!

Steve never meant for Tony to find out. Then again, he never really meant to get so far in himself. 

Then Tony got kidnapped, and it all went to shit.

For a man who prided himself on being organized, on his ability to prevent things from slipping through the cracks, Steve had to admit that his life was unraveling before his eyes, and it was entirely his own fault. 

The problem was that Steve was a planner, and he never planned on Tony Stark. Brilliant, kind, gorgeous Tony, who only knew Steve the painter, an artist who worked tirelessly to make a name for himself and his art, who taught sick kids to draw every other weekend. Steve hadn’t planned to lie about those things, either, but Tony caught him on a rough night, a brutal deal gone so awry that Steve had to step in. He was nursing a black eye and gruesome bruises at a dive bar in Brooklyn, alone at the corner of the bar, where the bartender largely left him alone unless he was refilling his glass. 

Most people had some idea who Steve was, at least in this neighborhood, but Tony hadn’t. He was an engineer from Manhattan, and so far removed from the world of organized crime that it was refreshing. Tony had made some quippy, forward remark about kissing Steve better, and he’d laughed, really laughed for the first time in forever. Tony was charming, and Steve found himself desperate to be the kind of guy who deserves someone like that. The lie had slipped from his lips easily; it’s what he did, after all.

After that, for a year now, those lies just kept coming. He spun a careful web of omissions and half-truths and hated himself for it every time. But Tony was so… soft, and _sweet_ and his, that Steve thought maybe he could have both. Two separate lives: Steve the Boss, who planned and orchestrated major art thefts, and Tony’s Steve, who did his own work and was great with kids and walked to brunch in the city holding his boyfriend’s hand so carefully it felt like nothing could ever hurt them.

If this was anyone else, had anyone dared speak about their feelings in such an openly vulnerable way, Steve would have told them to get their head out of their ass and ditch the guy. He would’ve offered to do it for them. He should have taken his own advice, he knows that now. 

When Steve finds out Tony had been taken, it feels like every part of him goes ice cold, then bursts into flame. He’s seeing red, because how _dare_ anyone do this, take his one good thing. The only person he had who knew the Steve he wanted to be rather than the criminal he’d become. The one person who loved him, who trusted him implicitly, and… who didn’t know Steve at all. 

It doesn’t take Steve long to find Tony, tied up in an abandoned warehouse that was dark and musty with disuse. He kicks the door in, gun in hand, and storms into the room. The sniveling kid in charge of keeping an eye on Tony was clearly not expecting Steve Rogers himself to show up, and he backs away slowly, then flees the room entirely as Steve shifts the gun. He was only going to put it away, but it gets the job done. 

“Sweetheart,” Steve says. He hardly recognizes his own voice, and he hates the way terrified way Tony’s looking between him and the gun, like Steve was someone he didn’t recognize. His face is bloody, but he’s in tact. They hadn’t wanted to hurt Tony, that much was clear. This was just a message, letting Steve know that he’d been found out. That he had something to lose. 

Steve brings a hand to Tony’s forehead, wanting to wipe the matted hair from his face, to comfort him any way he could before he took him home, and his heart breaks when Tony flinches away like he’d been burned.

“Steve, I… you’re…” He stares at him, clearly trying to piece together how Steve the painter and the man standing before him now could possibly be the same guy. _I am that person_, Steve longs to tell him. 

“I’m so sorry, Tony. I never, ever meant for you to get hurt. I didn’t think… I thought I could have it all.”

“Steve, you’re holding a gun, you came in here and kicked the door down. Would you have killed that guy?” Tony demands. He’s shaking, and Steve balls his hands into fists to stop himself from reaching out to him again. 

“If they’d hurt you even worse? I can’t say no, Tony,” Steve admits. The honesty feels good, like a breath of fresh air. 

“That night, in the bar. The night we met you said… You said you stopped a mugging, but you were _part_ of something even then. _All of this_ has been a lie,” Tony realizes at once, and the pained look on his face nearly takes Steve’s breath away. Tony looks devastated, and he has every right to be. Steve had been lying to him since the night they met. He was selfish, and that selfishness had gotten Tony kidnapped, beaten, and it had ruined any shot at happiness he might have had.

_Tactician. Meticulous. Strategist._ Those were all words associated with Steve Rogers, so how had he managed to fuck this up so royally? 

“Tony please, I’m so sorry. That night I was...in a bad place. I went out not expecting anything more than a hangover in the morning and instead I met you and I just… I wanted to be a better person, so I created one, and that meant I got to keep you, and after a while, well, it’s not like I didn’t _want_ to tell you. By the time I realized I loved you it was too late. I never wanted to put you in danger,” Steve pleads. Steve Rogers didn’t plead, not ever, but for this? For Tony, he would do whatever it takes.

Steve dares to reach a hand out again, and this time Tony doesn’t flinch away when Steve takes his hand. 

“This is fucked up, you do know that, right?” Tony asks, breath catching in his throat. 

Steve squeezes his hand. “I know, I’m sorry,” Steve apologizes again.

“I just… how can you be _this?_ I’ve seen you paint, I know that’s not a total lie. I’ve seen you with kids. I mean you’re so… _kind_. Maybe it’s the blood loss, or maybe the blunt force smack to my head shook out my common sense, but I do want to know you. The real you,” Tony adds with a glare. 

Relief sweeps through Steve with a force that threatens to bowl him over. “You do? I mean, if you wanted to leave, I would,” Steve swallows hard. “I would hate myself, and I would miss you like crazy, but I would understand.”

Tony looks at Steve, really looks at him, and Steve can see his mind at work, processing. Steve can see his face soften almost imperceptibly. “The Steve Rogers I know and love is a good person. I see it, even now,” Tony tells him. 

“I love you, so much, and I know I’m sounding like a broken record here, but I am so sorry, Tony. I should have just told you.”

Tony snorts. “What a meet cute that would’ve been. Hi, I’m Steve, and I’m a … what are you exactly, anyway? A gangster or something?”

Steve winces. “Actually I’m… kind of the boss.”

Tony’s eyes widen and he gives a surprised yelp. “Christ, Steve,” is all he says. “You’re going to tell me all about this, I’m holding you to it, but for now, can you _please_ get me out of this?” Tony nods to the chair he’s still tied to.

Steve springs into action, his eyes narrowing as he unties Tony and lifts him up and into his arms bridal style, like he weighs nothing. “I _will_ hurt whoever did this to you,” he grits out. Tony shifts in Steve’s arms, and looks briefly like he’s going to argue, tell Steve he can walk, but he seems to bite his tongue.

“You’re a real tough guy, I get it. But please, avenge later, home now,” Tony says. Then he seems to realize something. “Bet your lackeys or whatever have no idea that _this_ is all it really takes to have their wicked way with you,” Tony says as he leans up in Steve’s arms and kisses softly along Steve’s jawline, finishing with a warm press of lips to Steve’s ear. 

Steve shivers and gives a pleased little sigh that would be completely embarrassing in front of anyone else, then gives Tony a look. 

“They certainly do not,” he says.

Tony makes a thoughtful sound at this, and Steve can see his brain working. 

“Tony, whatever you’re plotting here, please don’t.” He’s smirking a little as he admonishes him, though. “You’re right, let’s just get you home and cleaned up and in bed. Let me spoil you a little this weekend, yeah?” Steve says. “We have a lot of catching up to do, anyway.”

“No promises. You did have a secret identity, one that I still need to hear all about, for over a year, Steven,” Tony says. His voice is lower now, weaker as the events of the day start to settle in and exhaustion hits him full force. Steve tightens his arms around him and nods.

“Fair. You know that no matter what I do here, I love you, right? That hasn’t changed. That’s why I did what I did, why I could never tell you the truth. Knowing I could come home to you and be someone good, knowing that you love me, those things get me through the day.” 

Tony ducks his head into Steve’s shoulder. “I know,” he murmurs. “Total softie,” he adds.

Steve carries Tony all the way to his apartment, shooting murderous looks at anyone who dares to look at them. They had a long road ahead of them, but Steve can’t help but think that despite all the wrongs he’s done, he still had Tony, which meant he’d done at least one thing exactly right. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm omg-just-peachy on tumblr, come say hi!


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